Paper Monkeys
by windwolf901
Summary: Emma goes back to work after the return to Storybrooke. Fulfilling my needs for a Charming/Emma talk like she and Snow had in the nursery and a Charming/Emma buddy cop show in one-shot.


Characters: Emma & Charming

Description: Emma goes back to work after the return to Storybrooke. Fulfilling my needs for a Charming/Emma talk like she and Snow had in the nursery and a Charming/Emma buddy cop show in one-shot.

Paper Monkeys

Everything was the way she'd left it. It was strange, given how she'd never held down a regular job before, to think how much comfort she found in the regular work routine. Emma hadn't dared to imagine coming back to work during the time she had spent stuck in the Enchanted Forest. Thinking about the suddenly not-at-all-sleepy town in Maine had been too much when she was just trying to keep focused on not screwing up the task at hand. And yet here she was, back at the sheriff's station, with Graham's coat hanging where it had always been. Everything was exactly the same.

With one glaring exception.

Emma stared across the expanse of empty desk in front of her. "You did all of my paperwork."

David chuckled. He'd come in with her that morning to officially hand the badge back and also so she could make sure he hadn't moved stuff around on her while she'd been gone. "Not all, but whatever I could. I didn't want it to be a mess for you when you got back."

_When_, not _if_. That someone could have so much faith in an idea like 'family always finds each other' still stunned her. Throughout her time in the Enchanted Forest, Emma had done everything she could not to think about their chances of success. She had relied on that old standby of her life – _just keep moving_. She'd never had a family to believe in before and she was afraid that if she'd stopped that faith wouldn't be there.

"Thanks," she mumbled, suddenly awkward. She popped open a pen and started fidgeting with the cap.

A silence settled between them and Emma realized how little she had spoken to David when the curse was still active. He had just been the married man who broke her best friend's heart. Now he was her father.

He coughed and shoved both hands in his jacket pockets. "I'll leave you to your day then. If you need anything –"

She nodded. "I think I can manage." David smiled at her and turned to leave. Emma took a deep breath and held it for a beat. He wasn't just the man who had been in a coma anymore. In the blink of an eye he had become the one man she knew could be trusted. He had nearly died in an effort to save her from the curse. The life she'd wound up with wasn't much, but she owed it to him nonetheless. She exhaled, and hoped that faith would find her. "I'm sorry I didn't look for you more."

Her father stopped in the doorway and turned back around. "Emma you don't –"

"No, I do. I saw it, okay? I saw what it would have been. I saw what you did for me so just... let me say it once."

He leaned against the wall and stuck his thumbs in his pockets, giving her silence and space to continue. Emma took another deep breath and closed her eyes. She hadn't really planned on this heart to heart, but she'd managed it once in the ruined castle that could have been her home. She could do it again.

She opened her eyes and forced herself to not look down at the desk. "I'm sorry I didn't look for you more," she started over. "It wasn't that I didn't want to; I just never figured I had much chance of finding my father without first finding my mother. And I guess part of me hoped that you didn't know. That you didn't know about me, that I'd been left on the side of the road, or that I was looking for answers because if you had known then you would have wanted me. I was angry at my mother because I didn't understand how she could just leave me like I was trash and I let my anger fuel my search until it became part of who I was.

"But I never really looked for you in the same way because I was still holding on to the idea that there would be a happy ending there somewhere for me. But if my mother thought I was trash then who was I to deserve one? And I know – now – that none of those things are true..." the words trailed off and she frowned. This wasn't coming out right. "Look, I'm bad at trust and I'm bad at talking and I'm bad at having family but you took care of my son and you did my paperwork and... thank you."

"Emma it's not something you have to thank me for."

"But I am. I read the last pages of the book – the ones Henry and I ripped out and burned – that showed the curse coming and the wardrobe and... thanks for that too."

His sigh was some combination of pain and relief. "We just hoped you would find us, that we'd have a chance still. We missed so much."

_And we'll never get it back_. The unspoken words filled the room. Emma chewed the inside of her bottom lip and let her gaze fall to the pristine desk in front of her.

"You know, I could use a paper monkey."

Her father raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of subject. "Origami isn't really my strong suite."

She crossed her arms over her chest."Deputy then." The corner of his mouth quirked at her. "Everyone remembers who they are now," she explained, "Which puts me at a serious disadvantage when it comes to being sheriff. You seem like you have a pretty good handle on it and with everything going on... I could probably use the help."

Emma leaned back in her chair and picked at her nails, resisting every urge she had to provide him with an easy way out. Maybe it was too fast, or too much, or too weird.

"Are you asking me to work with you?"

She glanced up and saw the smile that had spread across his face. Emboldened, she straightened and rested her elbows on the desk in front of her. "Well, technically you would be working _for_ me. But it comes with dental."

He laughed and Emma couldn't keep the grin off her face.


End file.
